The Nature Videos by Carmen

She pulled her hair higher into a ponytail and looked into the mirror for the thousandth time. A tall slender 18 year old girl with blonde hair and hazel eyes stared back.

“Whatever, this’ll have to do,” she muttered as she pulled on her jeans and trainers. “I look like a high school student, but hey, I’m sophisticated enough to pass off as a teacher.”

“Danni Mackenzie,” she told the administrator. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, after searching through the computer files.

The administrator stared at the girl. “Umm…Okay, well in that case-” he clicked on a timetable, “you are taking Class 12G, in room 92.”

Danni frowned. She had never heard of that subject before. The girl sighed, picked up a map and began walking away from the man.

“Watch out for a Matthew Willis- he will do about everything he can to make your life a misery.”

Danni walked down the corridor, a massive stack of books in her arms. She didn’t see the dark haired boy, sauntering down the hall listening to his walkman, until it was too late-

Books went flying everywhere, and Danni smashed into a nearby locker. Laughter echoed down the hallway. A blush instantly crept into Danni’s cheeks and she picked herself up, trying to maintain some of her shattered dignity.

“Look honey,” the boy said sarcastically, “I know you think I’m fit and all, but there’s really no need for you to go attracting attention to yourself by walking into me.” The other teenagers grouped around the boy, grinning gleefully at Danni’s public humiliation.

“Whatever,” he dismissed her with a wave of his hand and muttered loudly to his friends, “Seriously, new kids are such losers.” They all cackled in agreement as they strolled into their room- Room 92.

Danni looked up, expecting to see a shy or nerdy looking girl, but was instead greeted by a pair of clear blue eyes- a pair of clear blue eyes belonging to a quite cute looking boy.

Danni gave a harsh laugh. “Not really. You going to laugh at me too?” She had managed to gather up all the books except one. “Where is that-” she muttered.

“Nice to meet you Danni,” the boy smiled slowly. “Ignore Mattie- he’s just foul over this girl who ditched him yesterday.”

“Room 92- my least favourite subject, Nature Science.” James gave a cheerful laugh, “It’s Matt’s favourite of course.”

Danni nodded again, and followed the cute lad down the hall to her room. She suddenly stopped as they reached the door. James turned around puzzled.

They walked into the room together. Danni was in a panic, because she knew that the whole class would recognise her…and that Matt Willis…Maybe she should sit down at a desk and pretend she was a student…

James cheerfully made his way over to sit on one side of the arrogant dark haired lad…leaving only one seat on the other side of him. Danni hesitated, and Matt looked up. As soon as he saw her, his face cracked into a grin.

“Hey look who it is- Attention seeking accident girl!” The other students laughed, while James poked him in the ribs.

Matt turned on his friend instead. “Ohhh- looks like James has got a crush on the new girl,” he drawled.

Danni couldn’t stand it anymore. She walked up to the blackboard, and wrote clearly at the top, “Miss Mackenzie.”

A hushed silence fell over the room, broken only by Matt’s outburst of laughter.

“You’re not SERIOUS? Come on- even I can pull being a teacher better than you!” The rest of the class relaxed, remembering how Matt had once pretended to be a substitute teacher. This girl was obviously trying the same thing to give them a scare.

“My name is Miss,” she emphasised the word, “Mackenzie. And I will be filling in as a teacher for this class for the rest of term, as well as a few others.” She looked at them clearly, with her no-bull attitude. Matt looked at her thoughtfully.

“Nah, she’s having us on,” he said loudly. “If you’re a teacher, prove it. Even the substitutes get teacher passes when they first start.”

Danni looked at him in dismay. The administrator hadn’t given her a pass. She opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted when a balding man stuck his head in the room.

Danni hesitated. Then she deliberately turned her face towards Matt, who was gulping and squirming in his seat. She smiled sweetly at him.

After the principal had left, Danni turned to the list in front of her. She heard Matt banging his head frantically on the table, and the hushed giggles of the other students.

“Alright- today we’re going to be watching a series of nature videos-” Danni looked up in surprise as the boys all cheered, while the girls groaned in dismay. She couldn’t quite understand why the boys were so enthusiastic. Danni turned on the TV and leaned back in her teacher’s chair, preparing to get some sleep in the dim room. The noise of heavy animal grunting greeted her ears. Danni’s eyes snapped open, startled, as the boys in the room cheered. On the screen where two apes that were…Oh God. The day just got a million times worse.

The video finished, and Danni handed out the sheets to each student. Most of the boys were grinning, not surprisingly, but when Danni reached Matt, she was shocked to see the lad was sombre. She passed him a sheet and moved on to James.

The blonde smiled happily at her. “See why all the guys like Nature Science?”

Danni laughed, and glanced at Matt again. She was startled to realise that he had his hand up.

Matt stared closely at his desk for a few moments. The rest of the class turned to look at him.

“Why is it so easy for the apes and frogs and stuff to have relationships, when for humans it’s really complicated?”

Danni smiled gently at the boy, remembering what James had said about his break up. “Well there are lots of reasons, but mainly, you’ve got to remember that humans are a lot more complicated than animals- we have a higher level of thought capabilities and processes…” The bell rung, and the students began to pack up. Danni wondered back to her desk and began to flip through her timetable. Maths next. Argh.

She noticed a shadow fall across her desk, and snapped her head up. Everybody had left- all except Mattie, who stood in front of her now.

“Umm…I…I wanted to say sorry about-” he hesitated, considering what to say. “Sorry about crashing into you, sorry about teasing you, sorry about not believing-”

“I think I get the point Matt.” Danni hesitated and smiled at the boy. He stared at her for a moment before blinking and stumbling backwards as though she had just hit him. “Ah well. I’ll see you around then…”

Last period. Finally. The day had been draining for Danni, and she walked towards the music rooms with an absent smile. Matt saw her coming, and looked at her again.

The rest of the class cheered as Danni approached. The entire school had heard about the Matt-Danni fight and thought it was hilarious. Not to mention that the boys thought she was the fittest teacher they had ever seen.

Danni opened up her workbook. “Okay kids-” she couldn’t help grinning, as she knew she was only a year older than most of them, “Today you’re going to be starting your music compositions. They can be either individual or group, and it’s going to contribute 100% to your final report mark. So you will have the rest of term to complete them. Those that are the best will be asked to perform at the school dance.” The students cheered at the prospect of the dance. “So get started!”

Matt exchanged a glance with James and they both joined their tables together. Matt’s ex-girlfriend Rita came up to them.

“Hey Mattie,” she said, smiling flirtatiously at him. He just stared at her dully. “I was wondering if I could join your group…”

“No,” the boy replied, turning to James. “We only want two in our group right JB?”

The blonde frowned in a panic, but saw the pleading look in his friend’s eyes. “Yeh sorry Rita, we have a song we want to write together.”

“James really wants me to be in his group, but Mattie won’t let me because he’s so mean!” The girl’s eyes began to fill with tears. Danni stared incredulously at Matt, sitting in the corner with James. She didn’t know that this was Matt’s cheating ex-girlfriend, so she marched Rita up to the two boys and stared coolly at the dark haired one.

“Matthew, when I said you could form a group; I meant a democratic group where everyone has a say- not just you. If James would like Rita to be with you guys then-”

“Don’t worry about it JB.” Matt’s voice was a soft mutter. He seemed fascinated with something on his desk and hadn’t looked up. James stared at him, completely bewildered, before shrugging and making room for Rita.

The girl smiled sweetly at James, before turning her attention to the other boy.

Danni had been at the school for half a month now and was settling in quite well. She had been receiving unknown flowers and gifts from a secret admirer, and while it bothered her a little, she felt a small thrill of excitement when she saw a new package on her desk everyday. The students adored her, and she particularly enjoyed the classes with James…and Matt. But the older boy seemed constantly preoccupied and didn’t seem to pay attention to anything.

The teenager’s head snapped up in surprise. “Uh….Yes…” He walked over cautiously, eyes staring into the ground.

He finally tore his eyes off his shoes and looked at her. This was the first time she had called him ‘Matt’.

“Matthew…Mr. Fischer wanted me to speak to you about your grades…They seem to have been going down ever since…” She was about to say ‘ever since I got here’, but instead continued, “Ever since your uh…break up with your girlfriend?”

“Yes,” Danni interrupted. “And that brings me to another thing- Matthew, I don’t wish to interfere, but your behaviour to Rita has been less than satisfactory. If you want to move on in life, you should try treating the girls around you a little better.”

The boy’s mouth hung open. She knows Rita cheated on me, broke up with me, and still wants me to be nice to her? What, is this a hint that…

Danni looked at Matt puzzled. She had no idea about Rita, because she’d only heard from James that he had fallen out with a girl. But Matt obviously didn’t realise this.

“Okay,” he said coolly. “Anything else Miss?” This was the first time he had called her that. She shuddered slightly. For some reason, hearing it from Matt made her sound so old.

“No-” but before she could say anything more, he had left the room, slamming the door after him.

“James, can I have a word with you?” It was a month after the talk with Matt, and the boy had been avoiding Danni like she was a plague. He had even sat in a corner at the back to avoid notice. Strangely enough, the flowers and gifts Danni received had also stopped.

“I was just wondering…I told Matthew that he should be a little more…civil towards Rita, and it seemed to really…bother him,” Danni’s words came out hesitant.

The boy’s eyes widened in shock. “But Miss- she cheated on him, and then broke up with him, and now she’s trying to get him back! He shouldn’t need to be nice to her!”

James shook his head. “Of course. It’s ok, I’ll talk to Mattie. Of course, this explains why he thinks you…and why he stopped sending…”

The dark haired boy shrugged. Silence. “Hey, have you gotten a date to the dance yet?”

James shifted uncomfortably. He and Matt had agreed since they were kids that if one of them had no partner at the final dance, they would both go solo. Unfortunately, James had been attracting more female attention now that the hottest bachelor- Mattie- seemed distant and out of action. So now James had plans with another girl.

Matt smiled knowingly. “That’s okay; you know we never would have kept that stupid promise anyway.”

“Miss?” James’ head poked around Danni’s door. “Well I was wondering if you were going to the final dance…”

Danni looked up, perplexed. “Yes, of course James. All the teachers are required to attend.”

The boy smiled at her shyly. “I was wondering if you would mind going with someone…”

Danni looked at him, considering. I don’t really want to go with James- I want to go with…She shook that thought away. “Of course not James.”

“My bird had better be fit,” he said half jokingly, referring to the blind date James had set him up with.

The boys were backstage behind the curtains at the final dance of the year- their graduation. Next year, they planned to start a band together, and move to London. Tonight, they had been selected to perform their music composition- however Rita, their lead singer wasn’t here yet.

“And now, James, Matt, and Rita are performing a song for you all. They were selected as best composition group this year, and I hope you enjoy this.” Danni’s voice said over the microphone.

Matt jerked his head. “You didn’t tell me she was here!” he hissed frantically at James. The blonde smiled an absent smile, as the curtains began to open. Matt looked like he was about to do something unpleasant in his pants.

James shot a desperate look at Matt with his bass guitar. The boy was frozen there, on stage. Danni watched sympathetically from the side, before picking up her microphone again. “Mattie, would you like introduce your song?”

The boy turned to stare at her. He picked up his microphone, and addressing Danni, said softly,

“This is the first time you’ve called me Mattie.” The teacher blushed, and he continued steadily. “James and I wrote a song called ‘what I go to school for’, and we’d like to perform it today for somebody very special.”

Danni’s mouth dropped open. This wasn’t what they had planned at all…

When the song had finished, the entire year cheered. Both boys took a bow, and left the stage. James punched his friend’s arm playfully. “That went down well. Now would you like to meet your secret date?”

“Busted- that’s a good name for a band,” Danni’s voice came from behind them. Matt turned to her, swallowing hard. James smiled at the teacher.

James blushed. “No sorry, I have a date. But Matt here needed one…I hope you two don’t mind?” Looking at Matt, whose eyes were bulging out of his head, he didn’t seem to mind.

Danni laughed, and held out her hand to the dark haired lad, who in an automatic way, took it and led her onto the dance floor.

“Exactly…And the chance that I might come across a good looking teacher in Nature Science, while watching nature videos? - Even better!”